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To All Points of the Compass:

The Azusa Street Revival and Global Pentecostalism

By Allan Anderson

Worldwide Revivals In The Early 20th Century

Reports from The Apostolic Faith, the Azusa Street revival newspaper, reveal the essence of the Pentecostal missionary vision at the beginning of the 20th century. The time was short, but the power of the Spirit had been given to enable a latter-day, worldwide revival where the gospel would be preached in all nations before the Lord would return.1 Pentecostal believers were convinced that a worldwide revival would precede the imminent coming of Christ. Thus, they continued the end-time revivalist emphases of radical evangelicalism from which they had emerged at the beginning of the 20th century.

Various revivals occurred within a few years of each other in different parts of the world. These revivals were characterized by a decidedly Pentecostal character and by gifts of the Spirit such as healings, tongues, prophecy, and other miraculous signs. The revivalists in Los Angeles believed the revivals in Wales and India were especially significant. Frank Bartleman, a participant in the Azusa Street revival, wrote, “The present worldwide revival was rocked in the cradle of little Wales. It was brought up in India, following; becoming full-grown in Los Angeles later.”2 There were, however, many spontaneous and roughly contemporaneous revivals that were not more or less Pentecostal than the others.3

The Pentecostal presence and power of the Spirit were emphasized in the Welsh revival (1904–05). Meetings were long, spontaneous, and seemingly chaotic and emotional. The immediacy of God in the services and in personal experience was emphasized by singing in the Spirit (using ancient Welsh chants), simultaneous and loud prayer, and revelatory visions and prophecy.

Revival leader Evan Roberts (1878–1951) taught that a personal experience of Spirit baptism must precede any revival. Although Pentecostalism’s emphases were found in the radical and less common manifestations of the Welsh revival, early Pentecostal leaders, especially in Britain, drew inspiration from the revival and viewed their Movement as growing out of and continuing it.4

Evan Roberts

Pandita Ramabai

In the Keswick Convention of 1905, the emotionalism of 300 Welsh delegates influenced an unofficial all-night prayer meeting that went, according to an observer, out of control. A.T. Pierson described the meeting and the manifestations of speaking in tongues that occurred there as “disturbing anarchy” and “a Satanic disturbance.”5

Even though Pentecostal-like revival movements had been in South India since 1860, the Welsh revival spread to India and other parts of the world through Welsh missionaries. In 1905, revivals broke out in the Khasi Hills in northeast India where Welsh Presbyterian missionaries were working.6 Another revival at Pandita Ramabai’s Mukti Mission for young widows and orphans in Kedgaon, near Pune, commenced in 1905 and lasted 2 years. Tears of repentance and confession, emotional and prolonged prayer meetings, powerful demonstrations of the Spirit including healings, prophecy, and speaking in tongues and interpretation characterized this revival. Above all, evangelistic teams of hundreds of young women were empowered by the Spirit to witness in the surrounding villages. This revival made the Mukti Mission an important Pentecostal center of international significance.7 This revival preceded the Azusa Street revival and was a precedent for a widespread form of Pentecostalism.8

The Indian revival had at least four far-reaching consequences. First, it is clear that Bartleman, revival leader William Seymour, and the writers of The Apostolic Faith viewed the Indian revival as a precedent to the Azusa Street revival.

Second, women played a more prominent role in the Indian revival than in the American revival. Ramabai, an Indian woman, famous social reformer, and evangelical Christian, resisted both patriarchal oppression in India and Western domination in Christianity. The Mukti revival, led by women, was a motivating and empowering influence on young women who had been marginalized and cast out by society.9 This is an example of Pentecostalism’s early social activism, empowering the oppressed for service and bestowing dignity on women leaders. The Mukti revival and Ramabai herself were unprecedented influences within global Christianity.

Third, both Ramabai’s ministry and the revival she led demonstrate an openness to other Christians, an ecumenicity, and an inclusiveness that contrasts the rigid exclusivism of many subsequent Pentecostal movements.

Minnie Abrams

Fourth, was the revival’s impact on Latin American Pentecostalism. Ramabai’s right-hand worker, Minnie Abrams, contacted Mrs. Willis Hoover — her friend and former Bible school classmate who was living in Valparaiso, Chile — with a report of the revival in Mukti. This correspondence was recorded in a booklet Abrams wrote in 1906 entitled The Baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire. This booklet also contained a discussion on the restoration of speaking in tongues — the first written Pentecostal theology of Spirit baptism. As a result of Abrams’ booklet, Methodist churches in Valparaiso and Santiago expected and prayed for a similar revival. This revival began in 1909 and led to Willis Hoover becoming leader of the new Chilean Methodist Pentecostal Church.

Today, most Pentecostal churches in Chile — proportionately one of the most Pentecostal countries in the world — are descendants of this revival. Thus, Chilean Pentecostalism has its roots in the Mukti revival rather than in Azusa Street. This revival was specifically a Methodist revival that did not promote a doctrine of initial evidence. An alternative to the initial evidence form of Pentecostalism centered in the United States was developing globally, and Mukti was its earliest expression.

Other revivals such as the Korean Pentecost of 1907–08,10 had features that still characterize Protestant and Pentecostal churches in Korea today: daily and all-night prayer meetings, simultaneous prayer, Bible study, and an emphasis on evangelism and missions. But beyond this are more characteristically Pentecostal practices like healing the sick, miracles, and casting out demons.11 These revivals continued for several decades and were often unconnected with Western Pentecostalism.

Healing revivals in the Ivory Coast and Ghana (1914–15) under the ministry of the Liberian William Wade Harris and in Nigeria under Garrick Braide and Joseph Shadare (1915–22) resulted in hundreds of thousands of conversions to Christianity and a number of independent Pentecostal churches. The Christ Apostolic Church, one of the largest Pentecostal churches in Nigeria, originated from the revival in Yorubaland under Joseph Babalola in 1930.

The Shandong revival in China (1930–32) was specifically a Pentecostal outpouring among Baptists and Presbyterians resulting in the eventual emergence of independent Pentecostal churches.12

The Impact Of Azusa Street

The various international revival movements were the soil in which Pentecostalism grew and thrived during the 20th century. This growth was facilitated by evangelical and Holiness missionaries already on the field who played a major role in the dissemination of Pentecostal ideas, as well as those who went out as a direct consequence of Pentecostal revivals. In 1905, Western evangelical periodicals reported on both the revivals in Wales and India, heightening expectations of a worldwide outpouring.13

The Azusa Street revival was probably the most well-known of the earliest centers of Pentecostalism in North America. It was also the source of the first wave of Pentecostal missionaries. This revival turned a fairly localized and insignificant new Christian sect into an international movement that sent workers to more than 25 nations within 2 years.14 Like John Wesley, early Pentecostals saw the world as their parish, the space into which they were to expand.15 They were convinced they would overcome all obstacles through the power of the Spirit and defeat Satan and conquer his territory — the world. This was the transnational, universal orientation that was an essential part of Pentecostalism from its beginnings.

The story of the Azusa Street revival is so well known it does not need to be recounted here. The revival’s global impact, however, is significant.16 The first paragraph of The Apostolic Faith bristled with the excitement of the event: “It would be impossible to state how many have been converted, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost. They have been and are daily going out to all points of the compass to spread this wonderful gospel.”17

Clearly, this new Apostolic Faith was a missionary movement, and the going out from Azusa Street was immediate and in ever-widening circles. Hundreds of visitors came to see what was happening and to be baptized in the Spirit. Many of these left Azusa Street and began Pentecostal centers in various North American cities and overseas.18

Some scholars have referred to the myth of Azusa Street. These scholars suggest that the role of Azusa Street was not as central as has been generally accepted and that the importance of other centers has been overlooked.19

Stone Church in Chicago

There were other important early centers of Pentecostalism independent of Azusa Street. For example, Marie and Robert Brown’s Glad Tidings Tabernacle in New York City (which commenced in 1907), William Piper’s Stone Church in Chicago (which became Pentecostal in 1907), and Ellen and James Hebden’s Queen Street Mission in Toronto (the Hebdens were baptized in the Spirit in 1906).

What cannot be denied, however, is that for 3 years Seymour’s Apostolic Faith Mission was the most prominent center of Pentecostalism in North America. This predominantly African-American church was rooted in the African slave culture of the 19th century. This is significant, particularly for the spread of Pentecostalism into parts of the world where so-called primal religions were dominant.20 The Pentecostal emphasis on healing helped spread the message to people who expected power demonstrations to accompany religious leaders.

Pentecostal missionaries were sent from Azusa Street to China, India, Japan, Egypt, Liberia, Angola, and South Africa.21 This was no mean achievement. The first missionaries from Azusa Street were convinced that they had been given missionary tongues through the baptism in the Spirit. They believed that when they reached their destinations they would miraculously speak foreign tongues without needing to undergo the arduous task of language learning. Apart from isolated instances when some claimed this had happened, most were unable to speak in foreign languages. Many returned to the United States disillusioned. But most readjusted and persevered in their mission efforts.

Latin America

In 1909, Luigi Francescon (1866–1964), an associate of William Durham in Chicago, established Italian congregations in the United States and Argentina. In 1910, he formed the Christian Congregation, the first Pentecostal church in SÃ£o Paulo, Brazil.

Gunnar Vingren

Daniel Berg

Two Swedish immigrants, Gunnar Vingren and Daniel Berg, began the Assemblies of God in Brazil. They had also been associated with Durham. In 1910, Vingren and Berg went to the northern Brazilian state of Pará where they founded the Apostolic Faith Mission, which was registered as the Assembly of God in 1918. By 2000, the Assemblies of God was the largest non-Catholic church in Latin America.

A second phase of 20 to 30 new Brazilian Pentecostal denominations arose after 1952, the most important ones being Brazil for Christ, God is Love, and Foursquare Gospel Church. After about 1975, a third Pentecostal movement began. The largest entity of this new movement was the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. This church, founded by Edir Macedo in 1977 in Rio de Janeiro, is a prosperity-oriented movement.23

The countries of Brazil, Chile, and Argentina have the biggest Pentecostal churches in South America. But nearly every Latin American and Caribbean country has been affected by this phenomenon, often with the aid of western missions.24

Europe

Most western European Pentecostal churches have their origins in the revival associated with T.B. Barratt (1862–1940). Barratt was a Methodist pastor in Oslo, Norway, who visited New York in 1906, and was baptized in the Spirit. He sailed back to Norway a zealous Pentecostal destined to become the founder and prime motivator of classical Pentecostalism in Europe. The revival in his Filadelfia Church in Oslo spread to other parts of Europe.

Lewi Pethrus

Alexander Boddy

George Jeffreys

Donald Gee

Pentecostal churches in Scandinavia soon became the biggest churches outside the Lutheran state churches. These Pentecostal churches were involved in sending missionaries around the world. Up to the 1960s, Lewi Pethrus’s (1884–1974) Filadelfia Church in Stockholm, Sweden, was probably the largest Pentecostal congregation in the world, with its own extensive mission program and social activities.25

In September 1907, Alexander Boddy (1854–1930), Anglican vicar in Sunderland, England, visited Barratt’s church and invited Barratt to his church. As a result, Sunderland became the most significant early Pentecostal center in Britain. Annual Whitsun conventions from 1908 to 1914 drew Pentecostals from across Europe. Boddy edited the influential periodical Confidence (1908–26) that reported on Pentecostal revivals and expounded Pentecostal doctrines. In 1909, he supported Cecil Polhill in creating the Pentecostal Missionary Union, an interdenominational missionary movement that worked mainly in western China and central India.

In 1915, George Jeffreys founded the Elim Pentecostal Church in Belfast, which is now the largest Pentecostal denomination in Britain.26 In 1924, the Assemblies of God in Great Britain and Ireland emerged as a congregational association of autonomous churches. Donald Gee (1891–1966) served as chairman from 1948 until his death in 1966. Gee traveled internationally and organized the European Pentecostal conference held in Stockholm in 1939, and the first Pentecostal World Conference in ZÃ¼rich in 1947. Gee was one of the most influential Pentecostal leaders of his time.27

Pentecostalism spread from England to France in 1926. In 1952, Pentecostalism began among the Roma (Gypsy) people. Today in France and Spain, nearly a quarter of the Roma population belongs to a Pentecostal church.28

Portuguese Pentecostalism has its roots in Brazil. José Placido da Costa and José de Mattos traveled from Brazil to Portugal, in 1913 and 1921 respectively, as Pentecostal missionaries.

Swedish missionaries planted Pentecostalism in Spain in 1923.29

Italy has the second largest population of Pentecostals in western Europe after Britain. In 1908, Luigi Francescon sent Giacomo Lombardi to Italy from Chicago. Both the Pentecostal Christian Congregations and the Italian Pentecostal Christian Church trace their origins to Lombardi.30

Ivan and Katharina Voronaev

The Pentecostal movement has been more successful in eastern Europe, where it has grown in spite of severe persecution. Ivan Voronaev had pioneered a Russian Pentecostal church in New York. In 1920, he established congregations in Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Russia. Voronaev’s church in Odessa (Ukraine) soon had 1,000 members. In 1927, he was appointed president of the Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith.

At that time, Pentecostals enjoyed the favor of the Communist state that had liberated them from Orthodox persecution. But in 1930 after the passing of antireligious laws, Voronaev and 800 pastors were sent to Siberian concentration camps. Afterward Voronaev disappeared. By 1940 he was presumed dead.

The Christians of the Evangelical Faith (Pentecostal) unsuccessfully approached Soviet leaders Kruschev in 1957 and Brezhnev in 1965 for religious freedom. They were denied religious freedom until 1991, when Communism fell.

The Evangelical Pentecostal Union in Ukraine is one of the largest Pentecostal denominations in Europe. In 2000, it had approximately 370,000 members. By 2000 there were also approximately 400,000 Russian Pentecostals, and 780,000 Ukrainians, the largest number of Pentecostals in any European nation.

In Romania, there are more than 300,000 Pentecostals. The Pentecostal Apostolic Church of God, founded in 1922, is the largest denomination. In 1996, the church became known as the Pentecostal Union.

Since the disintegration of Communism there has been more freedom for Pentecostals in eastern Europe, but new Pentecostal groups from the West have flooded into former Communist countries with evangelistic techniques that have brought opposition from Orthodox churches and national governments.31

The Impact In Africa And Asia

Africa

Divine healing through laying hands on the sick (sometimes accompanied by ritual symbols) has been a prominent part of Pentecostal practices in Africa. In 2000, approximately 11 percent of Africa’s population were charismatic, making it a significant Christian group on the continent. Classical Pentecostals have been operating in Africa since 1907, when missionaries from Azusa Street arrived in Liberia and Angola. In 1908, several independent Pentecostal missionaries arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa. They founded South Africa’s largest classical Pentecostal denomination, the Apostolic Faith Mission. At first, services were racially integrated. Later white leaders passed racist laws and kept all significant positions for themselves. This contributed to the many schisms that took place.

Until 1996, most classical Pentecostal denominations in South Africa were divided on racial grounds.32 Nicholas Bhengu (1909–86), one of the most influential South African Pentecostals, was a leader in the “Back to God” section of the Assemblies of God. British independent Pentecostal Missionary William Burton (1886–1971) worked in the southern Congo from 1915 to 1960. He founded what became the Pentecostal Community of the Congo.

Reinhard Bonnke (right) with
Hal Herman

In East Africa most of the numerous independent churches place an emphasis on the Holy Spirit as a result of various revival movements.33 In 1967, German Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke began his ministry in southern Africa. He has since preached throughout Africa to some of the largest crowds in Christian history. His organization, Christ for All Nations, based in Frankfurt, Germany, has been highly effective in promoting Pentecostal practices in Africa.

Pentecostalism has become one of the most prominent Christian movements across West Africa. In 1907, African Americans from Azusa Street were the first missionaries to go to Liberia. Three of the largest Pentecostal denominations in Ghana have origins in the work of a remarkable Ghanaian, Peter Anim (1890–1984) and his Irish contemporary James McKeown (1900–89).34

Today, Nigeria is one of the most Pentecostal countries in Africa. It has some of the largest congregations in the world, with vigorous national and international outreaches.

Asia

Within a relatively short time, a complex network of Pentecostal missions was established across India. In 1929, the Assemblies of God in India formed a regional council for South India with independent districts. Since 1947, these districts have been led by Indians.

K.E. Abraham (1899–1974) became a Pentecostal in 1923, but disagreed with missionaries and founded the Indian Pentecostal Church of God. This and the Assemblies of God are the two largest Pentecostal denominations in India, with some 750,000 affiliates each in 2000. The best-known Indian charismatic healing evangelist is D.G.S. Dhinakaran of Tamilnadu (a member of the Church of South India), whose Jesus Calls Ministry has extensive campaigns with huge crowds.35

Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore have vibrant Pentecostal and charismatic churches, but the greatest Pentecostal expansion in Southeast Asia was in Indonesia. In 1922, Dutch American Pentecostal missionaries arrived in Java. During the Indonesian revival from 1965 to 1971, more than 2 million Javanese became Christians in spite of heavy persecution from Muslim extremists. By 2000, there were 9 to 12 million Pentecostals and charismatics, or 4 to 5 percent of the total population in a country 80 percent Muslim.36

In 1928, Filipinos who were converted in the United States returned to the Philippines and founded Pentecostal churches. Today, the three largest churches in the Philippines are the Jesus is Lord Church founded by Eddie Villanueva in 1978, the Jesus Miracle Crusade, and the Assemblies of God.37

A..G. Garr, 1920s

In 1907, Pentecostal missionaries became active in China. The McIntoshes and the Garrs from Azusa Street were among the first. Although there were only approximately 5 million Christians in mainland China when most Westerners left in 1949, estimates of membership of unregistered independent Chinese movements in 2000 vary between 20 and 75 million. China may now have the largest number of charismatic Christians in Asia, especially in unregistered independent house churches. These have developed in isolation from the rest of Christianity for at least 50 years, and in spite of severe opposition.

The True Jesus Church founded by Paul Wei in 1917 in Beijing and the Jesus Family founded by Jing Dianying at Mazhuang, Shandong, in 1927, are Pentecostal churches, the former Oneness and Sabbatarian. These and other “old three self” churches were banned during the 1950s through the end of the 1970s, after which there was rapid growth. By 2000, an estimated 10 percent of Protestants in China were members of the True Jesus Church and most Christian groups in central Shandong province were of Jesus Family background.38

In 1932, Mary Rumsey, who had been baptized in the Spirit at Azusa Street, established the first Pentecostal church in Seoul, Korea, along with Heong Huh, who later became the first Korean Assemblies of God national chairman. David (formerly Paul) Yonggi Cho (1936–) and his future mother-in-law, Jashil Choi (1915–89), began a small tent church in a Seoul slum in 1958. Thirty years later his Yoido Full Gospel Church with 700,000 members under 700 pastors had become the largest Christian congregation in the world.39

Challenges In The Present Century

By the 1930s, there were only a few countries without some type of Pentecostal witness — a truly remarkable achievement.40 Since then, Pentecostalism, including the Pentecostal-like independent churches and the Catholic charismatics, has become one of the most significant forms of Christianity in the 21st century. According to oft-quoted but controversial estimates, there may have been more than 500 million adherents of Pentecostal movements worldwide in 2000,41 found in almost every country of the world and spanning most Christian denominations. In less than 100 years, Pentecostal, charismatic, and associated movements have become the major new force in world Christianity.

This is not cause for triumphalism, however, as Pentecostalism has been beset with blemishes that remain after 100 years. Among the most pressing are fragmentation, individualism, and patriarchalism.

One of the greatest challenges is disunity and exclusivism. Doctrinal and organizational differences emerged early. These differences were sometimes based on race and class, but more often were founded on petty differences and dogmatism. The legacy for Pentecostals is that they have been responsible for more divisions in the last 100 years than it has taken the rest of Christianity 2,000 years to produce. Ironically, the more Pentecostals divided, the more they multiplied. But this does not absolve guilt in bringing disunity to the body of Christ.

Pentecostals need to draw closer to themselves and to their sisters and brothers in older denominations. In a time when there is much greater openness to the working of the Spirit, many Pentecostal organizations are re-evaluating their relationships with national and international church bodies. Various dialogues among these bodies suggest change may be on the horizon. The Society for Pentecostal Studies provides one of the most inclusive forums in North America for creative scholarship and conversation between Pentecostals and charismatics. Recently, Pentecostals participated in a series of exploratory interdenominational conferences, culminating in an international conference on the Holy Spirit, healing, and reconciliation that was held in Athens in May 2005. For the first time, many Pentecostals were full delegates in a major interdenominational conference. The involvement of Pentecostals in such events could pave the way for dynamic changes in the international face of Christianity and promote the healing of relationships among believers who have a common loyalty to Jesus Christ.

Along with the challenge of fragmentation is that of unethical leadership. Although Pentecostalism may not have the monopoly on religious charlatans, its recent history has provided numerous examples of imperfect Pentecostal luminaries. The health and wealth gospel in particular has spawned a rapidly growing global Pentecostal culture that has questionable practices. These practices are tantamount to exploitation in the name of God’s blessing, and are linked to questionable theology. Many present-day Pentecostal leaders have limited or seemingly no accountability and have become a law unto themselves. Unfortunately, Pentecostal ecclesiology has lent itself to such rampant individualism.

Patriarchalism exists in several areas of Pentecostalism today. This has limited opportunities for ministry and leadership for women (who form the large majority of Pentecostals). In some places expatriate missionaries manipulate national churches and theological colleges through control of financial resources raised in richer countries. Only when these flaws are corrected will Pentecostals have come of age. Pentecostals will need to address problems as long as sin abounds, but greater cooperation and networking of Pentecostals globally will help bring solutions to these pressing issues.

ALLAN ANDERSON, D.Th., is reader in Pentecostal studies in the Graduate Institute for theology and religions and directs the Taught Postgraduate Programs at the University of Birmingham, England. Formerly a Pentecostal pastor and theological educator in South Africa, he serves on the editorial boards of several journals.

19. Joe Creech, “Visions of Glory: The Place of the Azusa Street Revival in Pentecostal History,” Church History 65 (1996): 405–424.

20. Douglas J. Nelson, “For Such a Time as This: The Story of William J. Seymour and the Azusa Street Revival” (Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham, 1981), 157–158; Walter J. Hollenweger, Pentecostalism: Origins and Development Worldwide (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1997), 18,19.

41. David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, “Annual Statistical Table on Global Mission: 2003,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 27:1 (2003): 25. This statistic, although widely quoted, is impossible to verify and depends on how “Pentecostalism” is defined. The majority of those included in this figure are independent churches worldwide and charismatics in older churches.

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